Dec. 05: Mets figure to pay dearly for pitching

With the bare bones pitching market, GM Omar Minaya will have to think twice about those spending parameters and hope his staff is right about all those young arms. Minaya admitted there’s some age to his team – Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez and several position players – which means there’s a closing window of opportunity.

If guys like Gil Meche, Ted Lilly and Vicente Padilla are getting $10 million-plus a year, and we’re not talking anything great here, then there’s no doubt Barry Zito will get a lot more. You also have to understand that Zito, while the best available now, is four years removed from his best season.

That’s a gamble. However, one thing working in the Mets’ favor should they plunge for Zito is in two years they’ll move into their new cash-cow stadium, where the naming rights should cover them.

This kind of reminds me of when gas prices when through the roof and there was this great move to “think twice” before filling the tank.

It’s unfortunate that the price is rising, but what are the alternatives? The trade market, as currently constituted, offers some interesting b-level starters like Vazquez and Garcia—but I can’t imagine any of these candidates being strong enough to warrant trading Milledge for.

So, it seems, Omar either has to overpay with cash for a legitimate front-end starter like Zito or overpay with talent (read: Milledge) for a second-tier starter like Vazquez.

While I agree the Mets will pay a steep price for an ace, Zito seems to be the only available starter out there who approximates one.

I say it’s better to spend too much money on Zito than to trade Milledge for a lesser quality starter like Vazquez. Willis would be ideal, but it’s not clear that’s he available. Zito could be the best of the bunch.

Question: can the Mets afford to go into 2007 with Glavine and El Duque as their #1 & #2 starters? I don’t think so.

Clearly Omar is waiting on a friend. He has to make Zito understand that life is just a cocktail party on the street, and that when you play with Tom Hicks you play with fire. He’s going to have to be open 24 hours a day, just waiting on a call from you. I think Zito, will walk before they make him run. If not, this will be the last time.

Above I noticed someone posted as anonymous mentioned Zambrano as part of our rotation for next season. This man signed his post as “john”. Please contact the powers-that-be at NYJournalNews.com and make sure this sick individual never posts on this blog again.